This invention relates to an animal restraining device and more particularly to an animal restraining device for restraining a cow or the like to enable the cow to be artificially inseminated and/or pregnancy tested.
Many types of animal restraining devices in the forms of crates, pens, etc. have been provided to restrict the movement of an animal while in the crate, pen, etc. to enable various veterinary tasks to be performed on the animal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,516 discloses an adjustable crowding alley while U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,513 discloses an adjustable hog crate. U.S. Pat. No. 2,957,451 discloses an attachment for a milking stall comprising a bar which slides across a pen forwardly of the hind legs of an animal. Various other restraining devices have been provided but they all suffer the same shortcomings.
In artificial insemination operations, it is imperative that the animal be restrained as much as possible without causing the animal to be placed under stress. It is also imperative that the upper rearward portion of the animal be accessible to permit the artificial insemination. A problem associated with the vast majority of the previous restraining devices is that they are unable to compensate for various animal sizes. The length of animals being inseminated can vary by as much as one to two feet. Thus, if a restraining device is rigidly fixed behind an animal having a particular length, that restraining device will not work for an animal having a different length. A further problem associated with the prior art devices is that they are not convenient to use.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved animal restraining device.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an animal restraining device which may be moved longitudinally relative to the restraining pen so that various animal sizes may be accommodated.
A further object of the invention is to provide an animal restraining device which may be easily longitudinally adjusted and which may be easily placed rearwardly of the hind legs of the animal.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an animal restraining device which is ideally suited for artificial insemination operations.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.